Two housing developments are set to be Britain's first new-build schemes to embrace a style of living known as co-housing. This week in Bramley, Leeds, the first owners will start moving into 20 homes at the Lilac (Low Impact Living Affordable Community) estate, which will be owned and managed by householders. There will be individual homes and also a "common house" with shared cooking, eating, laundry, leisure and meeting facilities.

"People will dip into the communal activities to different degrees," says Lilac secretary Paul Chatterton, a lecturer and one of the first 20 householders. "Some want privacy while others will be into communal meals and socialising."

Meanwhile in Totnes, Devon, the owners of the Baltic Wharf scheme of 95 homes, to be constructed by mainstream housebuilder Bloor Homes, want planning permission to include a co-housing community. It will have 23 individual privately owned properties with separate front doors but also a common living space, kitchen and community garden.

Co-housing began in Denmark in the 1960s when young professional families bought adjoining properties to share childminding. Now an estimated 8% of Danish households are co-housing; shared facilities now typically include gardens, maintenance and eating.

"In the UK the common themes are people having their own private space but enjoying larger than usual communal space too, and having it all under their own management," says Jo Gooding, co-ordinator at the UK Cohousing Network, a support network which assists groups setting up communal living projects.

"There are 15 communities affiliated to the network but probably quite a few others too. It takes an average of seven years from having an idea to actually living in co-housing. There's been more interest since the downturn, so expect more to come on stream."

Few know more about co-housing than Pauline and Mike Binns. In 1980 they were among 20 public sector workers who bought Thundercliffe Grange and its 22 acres in Rotherham for less than £100,000. It was then a redundant psychiatric hospital, but the couple and their co-buyers turned it into Britain's first co-housing scheme.

"On a day-to-day basis each of the 12 households is self-contained, but the philosophy is you get back what you put in," says Pauline. "It's the small things that work best. We help each other with shopping, drive each other to the station or airport instead of getting taxis. It's real community spirit."

The 12 households – five others, like the Binns, were original purchasers – talk through financial and maintenance issues at monthly meetings. The owners now include a journalist and other professionals as well as retirees like the Binns, and most of them attend six communal social events during the year as well as far more frequent ad hoc meals with different combinations of households.

Pauline says the lifestyle is not for everyone, but insists Thundercliffe Grange has shown that different types of people can live this way for a very long time: "It's not a new idea – it's just a good idea."

In most communities, the freehold is owned by a firm set up by residents; individuals purchase their leasehold homes and automatically become company directors. Financial arrangements differ. At Thundercliffe Grange owners pay the mortgages on their individual homes plus £150 a month for gardening, maintenance and emergencies. This is based on a notional "hourly work rate" of 84 hours a year for a couple and 72 hours for a single resident. Each household can reduce its charge by working on communal repairs or in the grounds. There is also a voluntary social fund.

At the Lilac scheme, by contrast, owners put down a 10% deposit on their properties then pay 35% of their net income into the mutual society. The percentage is tweaked to take account of the different sizes of homes, and high-earning residents may pay a smaller proportion into the society but must contribute additionally to a contingency fund.

Other projects have wider objectives. A group in Camden, north London, is seeking potential co-housing residents aged over 45 for what would be the first "older owners' co-housing". At a scheme in Lancaster, owners rent out a converted mill to local small businesses. Several groups have strong environmental aims; at Lilac the homes are made from straw bales and timber as part of the aim for a zero-carbon lifestyle.

In most cases individuals secure mainstream mortgages to buy their properties, with the UK Cohousing Network identifying Barclays and NatWest as particularly helpful. For schemes building co-housing homes from scratch, the Co-Op and Triodos banks and the Ecology Building Society are often sources of development finance.

However, problems can arise when people sell homes. Most estate agents say communal living – even on an occasional "opt-in, opt-out" basis – is a turn-off for buyers and may affect the market value of the home. Which may be why the UK Cohousing Network is now talking to mainstream housebuilders to encourage them to include co-housing components in new private estates.

Gooding says the move aims to dispel myths and show the advantages of co-housing: "It's a challenge for house-builders to make space for the right communal facilities but in return having a group of 30 people ready and willing to buy is a big bonus. Co-housing like this could be a win-win for everyone."